The new year brings renewed activity by the newest Long Island lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, Dr. Calabro Lodge #3012, to fulfill its mission of providing scholarships to local students.
The Mastic Beach lodge invites the community to a fundraiser on February 2, honoring Suffolk Legislator Jim Mazzarella and Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico. The group’s Scholarship Gala, a “Celebration of Life and Learning,” will take place at Sunset Harbor in East Patchogue.
“Last year, despite being a lodge for only one year, the Dr. Calabro Lodge had the honor and good fortune of awarding six scholarships to local students to pursue their educational journeys,” said President Leonardo Saburro. “Our goal for this year is to exponentially grow the number of scholarships awarded by our Scholarship Fund.”
In 2023, the lodge created the "Anthony Stinson Memorial Scholarship," named for a 13-year-old boy from Shirley who succumbed to his injuries after a tragic car accident while riding his bicycle. “To continue Anthony’s legacy and memory, our memorial scholarship will be awarded yearly to graduating 8th graders from Our Lady Queen of Apostles in Center Moriches who will be pursuing his or her education at a Catholic High School, plus graduating seniors from the William Floyd School District who will be attending college,” according to President Saburro. “We are looking to create more scholarships encompassing a variety of student interests and skills made available to communities across our Long Island region.
This year, in addition to the Stinson scholarship, the group has created the Dr. Calabro Lodge Sons and Daughters of Italy in America Scholarship and the Dr. Calabro Lodge Sons and Daughters of Italy in America Scholarship. “We have committed to granting a total of 18 scholarships to help local students pursue their educational endeavors,” Saburro said.
The lodge is named after a prominent physician who has served the Mastic Beach community for years. “Doc Senior” was the epitome of a country doctor, a familiar sight making house calls in his big black car. In 1947, Dr. Calabro fulfilled his lifelong dream of opening Bayview Hospital at the former Lawson Estate, doubling its size. His son, Frank, was also a doctor in the area—Brookhaven’s Calabro Airport is named for him. “We wanted to name the lodge after someone well known in the community, and Dr. Calabro is well remembered,” Saburro said, noting that the doctor’s granddaughter, Victoria Calabro-Mortimer, is a lodge board member.
The Sons and Daughters of Italy in America is the largest and oldest national organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States. Founded in 1905 by Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro as a mutual aid society for early Italian immigrants, it has thousands of members in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, making it the leading service and advocacy organization for the nation’s estimated 26 million people of Italian descent.
Legislator Mazzarella and Supervisor Panico are from the Mastic-Shirley Area and actively support local groups such as the lodge. For more information about the event, call or text 631-392-8747.